Licence holders require an official document to import certain food products of meat origin to replace the "CFIA Letters of Exemption" issued before September 2012 and the CFIA model "importer's attestation" that was in use after November 2013. To facilitate the transition to the new documentation, the previous documentation is accepted until October 31, 2020.
The legal basis for the official document is under Section 25 (b) of the SFCR.
An insignificant quantity of meat in food is set at 2% or less as defined in the SFCR: Glossary of key terms.
The Health of Animals Regulations is the legal basis for the zoosanitary attestations in the official document. Under the Health of Animals Regulations, the import of meat in any quantity is regulated. That is to say that the SFCR definition of insignificant quantity of meat is not applied under the Health of Animals Regulations.
The CFIA is adopting an integrated risk-based approach under both regulations for the import of these products. The Health of Animals Regulations takes priority over the SFCR.
For imports from the United States, the CFIA accepts as the official document either an Official Meat Inspection Certificate (OMIC) issued by the USDA's Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) or a certificate of export issued by the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN).
For imports from all other countries (other than the United States) the CFIA accepts an Official Meat Inspection Certificate (OMIC) or a negotiated food certificate approved by the CFIA.
There is no need for an OMIC or negotiated food certificate approved by the CFIA if the product falls in one of the two categories of lower risk defined in the table. (Click Read More below to access to the table)
The prospective exporter and the Safe Food for Canadians import licence holder must comply with any additional import requirements or restrictions associated when importing a commodity or the licencing requirements that falls under applicable Canadian laws.
Please consult the Automated Import Reference System (AIRS) to learn about the import requirements.
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